Senior Ecologist - Sunderland £41k-£46k
Some roles feel like paperwork with a field visit attached. This one leans closer to choreography, where planning policy, biodiversity, and real landscapes move together, sometimes gracefully, sometimes with a bit of persuasion.
A northern local authority is seeking a Senior Ecologist to sit at the centre of that movement, offering clear, confident advice across planning, conservation, and biodiversity delivery. The position carries influence rather than line management, shaping decisions that ripple across development sites, green infrastructure, and long-term nature recovery.
Day to day, you'll move between responding to planning consultations, maintaining and interpreting the ecological evidence base, and helping steer biodiversity strategies that align with wider climate and sustainability goals. You'll also find yourself in conversations that matter, with planners, elected members, and external partners, translating ecological nuance into something practical, defensible, and grounded.
They're looking for someone with a solid academic background in ecology or a related discipline, Associate CIEEM membership, and experience delivering ecological advice in a professional setting. More than that, they need someone who understands legislation and policy not as static documents but as tools, and who can weigh ecological priorities alongside social and economic realities without losing clarity.
This is a role for someone steady, thoughtful, and quietly authoritative. The kind of person who can hold their ground in a busy environment, manage competing demands, and still keep sight of the bigger picture.
If you're looking to influence how places evolve, not just observe them, this may be worth exploring.
Committed to inclusiveness in the workplace, we aim to increase diversity across all areas and therefore welcome applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, or whether or not they have a disability.
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